Hong Kong – Korean film Lee Chang Dong’s Secret Sunshine swept top honors at the Asian Film Awards including Best Director and Actress, ousting blockbusters Lee Ang’s Lust, Caution and Peter Chan’s The Warlords, to take home Best Film at the kudos event’s second edition. Director Lee Chang Dong expressed his ‘shock’ at having won against such respected filmmakers in the region as he gave his thank you speech for a second time having received the top helmer award just before the Best Film prize. Jeon Do Hyeon took the best actress award for her role as a lady who copes with the death of her husband and child in Secret Sunshine. Local favourite, Hong Kong Entertainment Ambassador Tony Leung Chiu-wai scooped the 14th best actor honour of his career for his role as a collaborateur with the Japanese in pre-WW2 China in erotic spy thriller Lust, Caution. Special prizes including Lifetime Achievement Award and the Edward Yang New Talent Award went to Japanese directors Yoji Yamada and Ishii Yuya respectively. Best Supporting Actor and Actress were presented to Sun Hong-Lei and Joan Chen for their respective parts in Mongol and The Sun Also Rises. The latter film’s production designers Cao Jiuping and Zhang Jian Qun notched the Best Production Designer kudos. Best Screenwriter went to Au Kin Yee and Wai Ka Fai for their effort in Mad Detective; while Ng Yuen Fai clinched the Best Visual Effects prize for The Warlords. David Richardson won Best Editor for his cuts in Eye in the Sky; Liao Pen-jung was named Best Cinematographer for Help Me Eros; while Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravijiani took the Best Composer prize for their work on Bollywood blockbuster Om Shanti Om. The awards ceremony, broadcast live on TVB Pearl in Hong Kong, also featured a medley of theme songs from recent romance flicks sung by Singapore songstress Stephanie Sun. The prize presentations were preceded by the red carpet event graced by regional celebrities, artistes and filmmakers including Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Vivian Hsu, Jet Li, Shu Qi, Song Hye Gyo, Tsai Ming Liang, Jaycee Chan and Shawn Yue.